Road Trip
by BeyondYourWildestDreams
Summary: Sonny and Chad are married, but after a fight and Chad packs up and leaves. Five years later, their now 15-year old daughter takes a road trip across the USA with her god-family to find him. What will happen?
1. Dark Days

**Chapter 1: The Dark Days**

**June 26, 2021, Los Angeles, California**

"Bye, sweetie!" I call to my daughter, Crystal, as she heads to the park. "Have fun and be back by nine!"

"Okay Mommy!" she replies, then disappears down the elevator of our apartment building.

I am Sonny Cooper (formerly Sonny Munroe), former star of the sketch-comedy show _So Random!_, current Hollywood blockbuster screenwriter, mother of ten-year-old Crystal Dana Cooper, and wife of former _Mackenzie Falls_ star and current silver screen star Chad Dylan Cooper.

Sometimes I don't feel like that last part is true, though. See, over the years, Chad's become quite the workaholic. He's almost _always_ in the midst of shooting the Hollywood's next hit movie. I understand that it's his movies (along with my screenplays) that allow us to live in this lovely neighborhood, surrounded by many of our friends, not to mention all the hottest clubs and boutiques in L.A., but still. It's getting on my last nerve, especially during this past year or so. I hope our upcoming trip to N.Y.C. in a couple months will bring our family back together again.

The door opens. It's Chad. "I'm ho-ome!" he calls.

"Hey," I say. "Why are _you_ so perky this evening?"

"I got the part in that movie. You know, the one about the guy who opens his own bar to pick up chicks?"

"I know the one," I say, trying to seem happy, even though it's hard. I was kind of hoping he _wouldn't_ get the part for this flick. It's hard to watch your husband hit on other women, even if it _is_ only for a movie. "Did you accept?"

"Hell, yeah!" he says.

"So, when does it shoot?"

"It starts at the beginning of August and runs until mid-October."

"That's great!" I say, trying to sound enthusiastic. "But… what about our trip?"

"What trip?" he asks.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Chad." I say sarcastically.

"Huh?" he asks.

"Come on, cut the act," I say, annoyed. The trip, to New York? What about it?"

"Trip?" he asks, still confused. "Oh, that little trip we planned? Oh, yeah, that _is _in August. Oh, well." He shrugs. "Guess we'll have to cancel. You understand, right?"

I try not to show my anger. How could he forget something like that? All he seemed to care about these days was his films. "Well," I begin. "I _would_ understand if it was the first or second time you'd done something like this, but it's not. It's the SIXTH TIME YOU'VE DONE THIS IN THE PAST 2 YEARS!" I can't hide my anger now. "How could you do this to me? To Crystal? Do you know how much she's been looking forward to this trip? Oh, that's right, you don't, because you're NEVER HERE ANYMORE!"

"Well, maybe I'd be around more if you actually earned enough to at least SOMEWHAT SUPPORT THIS FAMILY!"

This continued on for about an hour and a half, and just kept getting worse and worse until Chad packed up his stuff and just _left_.

I just slumped into a ball and cried for a long, long, time.

I probably would have cried forever, but then the phone rang, and I picked it up.

"Hello?" I said, trying to muffle my sobs.

"Yes, is this the Cooper residence?" a voice asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Is Mr. or Mrs. Cooper there?"

"Speaking," I said.

"Your daughter, Crystal, has just had a severe asthma attack. She's doing much better now, but she's not quite back to normal, and she'll be spending the night here at Southern L.A. General Hospital."

By now I've forgotten all about Chad. "Thank goodness," I say with relief.

"We need you to come down here as soon as possible to sign some forms."

"I'll be right there," I say. "Thank you."

I hop into the car and drive to the hospital. I'm so relieved. I've already lost Chad, and I don't want to lose Crystal, too.


	2. The Plan

**Chapter 2: The Plan**

**July 5, 2026, Los Angeles, California**

I'm tossing and turing in my bed. I just _can't_ sleep! I've been lying here awake for who knows how long. I wish I could just doze off already!

I think the reason I can't sleep is that I'm afraid I'll have that dream again, the same one I've had the past several nights. This is it:

_I'm surprised to find myself in a hospital bed (which is weird, because you'd think I'd remember it after dreaming it a couple times). Just as I'm getting over the shock, someone opens the door. It's my dad. "Dad!" I try to say, but my voice is barely above a whisper._

_He walks over to me. "What happened? Why am I here?" I ask. My voice is even more hoarse now._

_"You had a severe athsma attack Crystal," he says calmly. I start to panic, but he stokes my hair. That always calms me down. "Don't worry," he continues. "You're going to be just fine. Just get some rest." He kisses me on the head and leaves. _Then I wake up.

That dream always seems so real, probably because it _was_ real. That exact scene happened about five years ago, when I was ten (well, almost eleven). I think the reason why I was scared of it was not because of the athsma attack, not because of the fact that I couldn't really talk, but because that was the last time I ever saw my dad. I remember when I first found out he wasn't coming home...

_It was the day I came home from the hospital after the athsma attack. Mom had to work, so I has spent the day with godmother. Later, she brought me home._

_"Mom!" I cried as I entered our apartment. She gave me a hug and tried to smile, but I could tell something was wrong. "What's worng?" I asked. "Where's Dad?"_

_She took a deep breath and said "Crystal, sweetie. Your dad... isn't coming home."_

_At first, I thought he had died, but Mom had promised me that that wasn't the case. "He just had to... go away," she had said._

_I aked her more questions, but she dodged them best she could and sent me off to bed. I never asked about my father again after that._

Ever since then, Mom's been _really_ depressed. I've only seen her smile a handful of times, and she's been very... _nice_ to me, too. Not the regular nice that she was before, but _creepy_ nice, like she aims to please me 24/7. I think she's afraid that something will happen to her, like, karma getting back at her if she's not like this. I don't know, really.

What I _do_ know is that whatever happened to Dad didn't affect the fact that Mom loves him. I catch her watching his movies and _Mackenzie Falls_, the old show he was on back in the day, and crying. I even saw a picture of him with lipstick on it once. If I had one wish, it would be to have them be able to be together again.

Sometimes, like right now, I wonder about my dad. Where is he? Did Mom lie to me? Is he dead? In prison? On the lamb?

I want answers, and I'm gonna find them, no matter what it takes.

* * *

**July 6, 2026, Los Angeles, California**

After Mom leaves for work, I head to the only place where I feel comfortable talking about my father: Apartment 205. That's where my Aunt Tawni (my godmother) Tammi (my BFF) and Conner (her obnoxious twin brother) live.

Tammi and Conner understand how I feel, because they never see their father, either. I think his name was Jamie Conroad or something like that. When thhe found out that Aunt Tawni was pregnant, he dumped her, and she's never seen him since. Whenever I think about that, I realize I guess I should be grateful that I at least _met_ my dad.

I knock on the door. Tammi answers. "Hey Crystal!" she says, and hugs me. "What's wrong?" she asks. "You look a bit sad. Have you been thinking about your dad again?"

"Yeah." I admit.

"Well, how about we Google him?" she suggests. "We'll probably get tons of hits. After all, he was a famous actor, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Maybe we can find out where he is or what he's doing now!" she squeals. "Come on!" she pulls me inside and into her room.

We log onto Google and type in his name. Tammi was right, a _ton_ of sites came up. After an hour of checking out about twenty of them, we had a _lot_ of information about my dad. It turns out he _is_ still alive, but had quit showbiz and moved to New York City to teach at a performing arts school there. Right now, he's running an arts camp there for the summer.

"Hello ladies," says Conner, trying to sound sexy. He's standing in the doorway to Tammi's room.

"Get out of here, Conner," says Tammi, annoyed. She throws a pillow at him.

"Hey! I just wanted to see what you girls were up to."

"Well, it's none of your business." Tammi is even more annoyed now.

Conner ignores her and walks up to us. "Who's that guy?" he asks, pointing to a photo of Dad.

"No one," I say. I don't know why, but I feel like if I tell him what I'm doing, he'll rat me out to Mom. Not that he would. At least, I don't _think_ he would.

"Hey, is that you're dad, Crystal?"

"How did you know that?"

"You look kinda like him."

"Really? I always thought I looked more like my mom." For some strange reason, it bothered me when he said I had any resemblance to my dad.

"Yeah, but you have his eyes and nose."

I look in Tammi's mirror to see. "No, I don't think so."

"Trust me, Crystal. You do."

"Let me see," says Tammi. I turn around and she studies my face for a moment. "He's right, Crystal. Maybe you don't have _quite_ the same nose, but your eyes are _definitely _his."

I go back to the screen and study my father's eyes very carefully. They're light blue, and they're sparkly, too. I decide I don't mind after all if I have them. I wonder why it bothered me before when Conner told me I had them? They were very nice, actually.

The front door opens. "I'm home!" calls Aunt Tawni.

"Hi!" we call.

"What are you guys up to?" she asks.

"We're Googling Crystal's dad," says Conner.

"Guess what?" says Tammi. He's teaching at a performing arts school in NYC now!"

"Really?" Aunt Tawni is surprised to hear this. "I never thought him of all people would become a teacher!"

"Why? What was he like?" I ask. Aunt Tawni had known him even longer than Mom had, so she probably knew a _lot_ about him.

"Well, he was like..." she comes over to where Tammi and I are sitting. "Conner at an awards show," she whispers. Tammi and I giggle.

"Hey!" says Conner. Conner was an actor on a tween drama, much like my father had been at our age. He was quite full of himself, and he talked himself up an awful lot, especially in his acceptance speeches at awards shows. I should know. I've been to every single one of them!

"Hey," says Tammi in her "idea voice" "We should go to that school and surprise him with Crystal!"

"What!?" I exclaim.

"Y'know, that's actually not a bad idea," says Aunt Tawni. "We could go this summer!"

"But my mom would never go for that!" I say.

"And you promised us a road trip to Aunt Zora's!" adds Conner.

"Well, I guess we could do both." says Aunt Tawni. "We could take a road trip across the country, and stop at Aunt Zora's on the way to New York."

"Yeah! I'm on board!" says Tammi.

"Me too!" agrees Conner.

"There's still the issue of Mom, though." I point out.

"Oh, that'll be easy to take care of. We'll just say that we booked a trip to a resort for four, but I broke up with the guy we were planning to go with." Aunt Tawni dated a _lot_ of guys. "We'll ask if we can take you instead, and if she says yes, we're all set!" says Aunt Tawni. She seemed proud of her plan. However, there _was_ one little flaw in it.

"What if Mom says no?" I ask.

"We'll deal wit that when it happens, but I highly doubt it will. You've been on vacations with us before."

"She came too, though."

"Yeah, but I bet I can convince her to let you go. Just let me worry about all that, okay Crystal?"

I smile a little. "Okay."

"Great! Now let's put this plan into action!"


	3. Author's Note

_Okay! Sorry I haven't been updating lately (I've been uber-busy!) More updates will be coming soon, so keep checking back!_


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